Dying Embers
by ForestFireSong
Summary: Poland was nothing. But Feliks was something, still there. He was waiting till the countries that had conquered him were defeated, when he could regain strength and find Liet again- when nothing was something and he would rise again. [Historical one-shot on Partitions of Poland]


He was nothing. His country was gone, and even though he still existed, he felt so empty. Why was he still there?

"_Come on, Liet! We totally kicked Russia's butt! That's got to account for something, right? Before you know it, we'll have had Europe. Our Commonwealth will last forever!"_

"_Well…if you say so, Poland…"_

How wrong he'd been. What a hopeless wish that had been. And now Liet was gone…

"_Poland, you know things aren't going well, right? We're having problems between our countries. And Russia is moving in from the East…"_

"_I know, Liet."_

_His partner in the Commonwealth gave him a sad smile. Normally Poland wished he could see Lithuania's amazing smile more, since he always looked overworked and tired, but now he tried to pray the defeated look in his smile away. _

Lithuania had seen the signs of the coming collapse of the Commonwealth. Alone in Prussia's dark house, dead to the world, Poland could only draw relief from the fact that at least Lithuania wasn't gone completely. But the man was living with Russia, so it wasn't much of a consolation at all.

"_Let him go!"Poland swayed back and forth, his legs barely holding him, but he faced down the tall Russian in front of him._

_Lithuania was held tightly in the Russian's grasp. He was knocked out cold, his hand hanging. Poland could see a thin trail of blood coming down from his forehead, and a bruise beginning to swell over one eye. Poland knew he didn't look much better, but for once fashion wasn't a priority. The Commonwealth was at stake, and he couldn't let Russia take Liet…!_

_The blond tried to charge Russia, but the larger man just pushed him back. Poland fell on his rear, dust clouding around his face and making him cough. His wounds, already gained from the fighting against his neighbors, were aggravated from the fall._

"_I wouldn't be worrying about Lithuania, Feliks," Russia told him, staring down at the small nation. "You yourself are not very safe either, da?"_

_Poland's gaze began to swim, black spots appearing in front of his eyes. "You're like, so going down…" he muttered. "Just hang in there, Lithuania… I'm gonna…I'm…"_

That was where he had lost consciousness. Poland leaned his head against the wall. He didn't know how Lithuania was doing. News didn't reach him much where he was. It was like living a half-life, caught in between two worlds. Sometimes he would feel his arms, his face, his clothes, just to make sure they weren't gone, completely faded away like he feared would happen to him. Poland wouldn't give up, though. He had to go save Lithuania, however long it took…

_The time after Liet was taken was a blur of pain. It was pain so severe, Poland forgot where he was in the hazy murk of it. Had anyone taken him from the site where Russia and Lithuania had left? He didn't know if he was crying or moving or simply frozen, surviving because he was so numb. _

_Then the pain left him. It slowly began to ebb, but Poland didn't feel like he had healed. Instead, he felt empty. He didn't feel complete. And he was scared, because he didn't know if he was dead or not._

_Trying to distinguish between dreams and reality, the first clear, real thing Poland remembered before plunging back into the darkness was three faces looking down on him._

_One of them had a head of blond hair, and cold, menacing eyes that matched its owner's smile. The second one had white hair falling in his pale face, and red eyes that watched Poland with triumphant interest, like a spoil of war. The third was a bespectacled man, violet eyes behind his glasses and the darkest hair of them all._

_And then there was nothing._

Poland felt the nothingness he had experienced before, every day, and he didn't know whether that or the pain he had felt at first was worse.

_Finally, Poland opened his eyes and kept them that way. The first thing he noticed was his back pressed against the solid trunk of a tree. He heard voices vaguely. Upon glancing down at his clothes, the blond could see that he was wearing the same clothes as when Liet had been taken; it could've been any number of days before that._

_Focusing his gaze in front of him, Poland noticed three people. The three people who had been looking down on him. They were huddled together, conversing quietly, and Poland took note of the table and the signs of having set up camp in a forest. Instinctually, he knew that they were in his own country, although it felt strange…_

_Russia gestured over to him, and that was when all three men seemed to see that Poland had awakened. Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Three great powers in Europe. _

"_What happened to me?" Poland tried his voice, just to see if it was functional. It was, but it was raspy and lethargic sounding. _

_The three nations exchanged glances with each other. Cold fear seeped through Poland. He had no doubt that these countries were the ones who had caused him all the pain earlier, but now that he was still there and alive, he had to be a prisoner of war, or something. That was what Poland tried to convince himself._

_Finally, Austria and Prussia came over to Poland, Russia lingering behind them as if watching a show. _

_Prussia carried a map with him._

"_Polen," he said seriously, "You are in our custody now. Don't try to attack, or even move. You're seriously injured." Poland nodded. He didn't feel injured. Just strange, and weirdly light. Like when he would stay still in the water for too long. A weightless, airy feeling._

_Prussia spread out the map in front of Poland. He placed a finger on where Poland was, and the blond nation squinted to see his country._

_But he didn't._

_That was because Poland wasn't on the map. Said nation started shaking as he looked closer. The area that had once been his, his peoples', was gone. Labeled on the map in all the areas that had once been his were 'Prussia' 'Russia' and 'Austria'._

"_Poland, you lost the war," even though Austria's voice was hard, there was still a little sympathy in it. "You're still around, though, so we'll take care of you, ja?"_

"_Y-yeah, just stop shaking, okay?" Prussia's voice had some of the same sympathy. But Poland couldn't stop. He was gone. Nationless. But he was still there. He could feel his own clothes, his breath and the beating of his heart. Where had his country gone?_

"_Comrade," Russia spoke. "You've been partitioned."_

Poland didn't know why he still existed, if he was nation-less. But he hated Prussia's house. He was glad that the albino nation had offered to take him in. But at the same time Poland felt selfish. He should have fought to go to Russia's house, to see Liet again. He wasn't scared of Russia… But it wasn't like he'd had any choice in the matter.

But where was the sun? Poland had felt like he had been in the dark ever since his country vanished off the map and he had taken up residence in Prussia's house. He wanted the sun.

He wasn't allowed to see the other nations. Poland was dead, part of the three nations who had taken over him. Prussia and his brother Germany were the only ones that Poland saw. He would have liked to see Italy, whenever he came over to visit Germany, but the blond wasn't allowed to see him either.

"_Toris…Elizaveta…Feliciano…" Poland called out names in his sleep. He didn't know what sleep was anymore, since the world seemed to go by in a dreamlike state, but sometimes he found himself crying out those names. He even called for Germania once._

_Poland wasn't one of Germania's children. But he had been around when the long-haired blond was one of Europe's fearsome warriors, and had seen him pass._

_Poland didn't want to disappear, like Germania and Rome had. He wanted to speak to Germania to find out how he could stay, how he could get out of the limbo he was caught between._

_Because he wasn't a nation anymore, but he wasn't a human. Poland knew that for sure. He lived on, not aging, and minor injuries healed themselves within hours._

_He was just trapped, and wanted a hand to pull him out…_

Poland closed his eyes. Things had been getting better, bit by bit. He ate more, and could tell the difference between sleeping and being awake.

He attributed it to the Great War. Even with little news he received, Poland still knew enough of current events to know Europe was locked in a war. Prussia had gone to fight, alongside his brother, and Austria and Hungary, and Turkey. Russia was suffering a revolution in his home.

The three countries that had dominated him were growing weaker, and Poland knew that he was going to rise from it. He was phoenix, after all. Even if no hand reached out to pull him from the embers, he would rise without anyone's help. He _had_ to.

Poland had often puzzled over why he lived when his country was gone, land and economy. He thought he had figured it out. The spirit of the Polish people lived on. They didn't want to be taken over. They fought silently against their captors. They were what held Poland together.

When he got out of Prussia's house, Poland wanted to see the light. He wanted to see the colors bright and sharp again, the golden rye with Liet, under the blue sky and shining sun. He decided that when (when, not if) he got out of Prussia's house, Poland would paint his own pink.

And for the first time in years, Poland smiled, a small smile. He had to wait. A long wait. And even longer for Lithuania. But the day for the sun to shine again would come, he knew it. This could end up turning out to be the greatest rebirth ever.

**A/N: Okay, so the Partitions of Poland were when Poland and Lithuania were a Commonwealth. It had been weakened by war, famine, and internal struggles. Lithuania was partitioned by Russia and Poland was partitioned to the West by Prussia and Austria. Poland was carved into three by its neighbors and ceased to exist, basically disappearing off the map. It wasn't recognized as an official nation until 1918, when it was made again by land from Austria-Hungary after they were defeated in WWI. **

**This was a just a fic that I thought of after researching the Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth. If anything's wrong historically, feel free to point it out ^^ **


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